Malawi farmers learn food diversification to curb hunger

Transcript

00:00 Maize or corn is Malawi's staple food, much like what rice is to Filipinos.

00:05 A local charity dubbed Never Ending Food is teaching farmers of 200 types of food crops

00:11 they could grow and ultimately subsist on.

00:14 VOA's Lamek Masina reports from Longowi.

00:18 Malawians have long relied on semen as their main food.

00:24 The hard porridge made from maize flour is eaten with meat, fish and vegetables.

00:30 This food is also eaten in other African countries in the region.

00:35 But in Malawi, the saying goes, "If you haven't eaten in semen, then you haven't eaten."

00:41 No matter what other crops, farmers grow.

00:44 The local charity Never Ending Food in Malawi's capital, Ilongwe, is working to change that.

00:50 Manager Hadiwe Okanie says through permaculture, farmers learn about over 200 types of crops

00:58 they can grow and eat, including cassava, potatoes, millet, sorghum and yams.

01:05 The reason being, not just for them to have a variety of foods on their table,

01:11 but also to give them better nutrition.

01:14 And when the farmers plant together different types of foods, it is also good for the soil.

01:19 The soil remains nutritious.

01:21 Up to 40 percent of the population in Malawi is currently facing food shortages,

01:27 largely because of El Nino-induced dry spell, which has damaged more than two-fifths of national crop areas,

01:34 largely maize.

01:35 The situation forced President Lazarus Chakwera to declare a state of disaster

01:41 and appeal for international help.

01:43 But Ethel Katumba, a single mother of six children, says Never Ending Food's crop diversification training

01:51 has helped transform her home into a house of plenty.

01:55 While her maize is suffering in the dry spell, her cow peas and other crops are doing well.

02:01 [Speaking in foreign language]

02:04 "In the past, I faced a lot of problems in situations like this.

02:08 I used to beg for food from my employers or other people to survive.

02:13 But now that I've learned to grow various types of crops, I don't face food shortages anymore."

02:18 "The charity trains farmers and government agriculture extension workers,

02:23 field officers from agriculture nonprofits, and university students."

02:28 "I choose to use this permaculture knowledge to improve the ecosystem here in Malawi

02:37 and to improve the climate so that the future generation can have amazing environment

02:46 that people can have plenty of food."

02:48 "Advocates say permaculture can potentially address the food shortages Malawi has long faced.

02:55 Daniel Jim Kunta is a government extension worker who received Never Ending Food's training."

03:01 "Especially when we look into the rising prices of fertilizers and the rising prices of hybrid maize,

03:09 farmers are now taking it to their own to start engaging fully in permaculture practices.

03:16 So I should say the response has been positive."

03:20 "As farmers like Arthur Okatumba learn the importance of food diversification,

03:25 experts hope the hunger situation in Malawi will soon be history.

03:31 Lameke Masina, VUE News, Lilongwe."

03:34 square.

03:34 (upbeat music)